Pillars of Cloud and Fire

The pillar of cloud that went before the Israelites by day, and the pillar of fire that preceded them by night, in their journey through the wilderness, are supposed to be alluded to by the pillars of Jachin and Boaz at the Porch of Solomon's Temple. We find this symbolism at a very early period in the eighteenth century having been incorporated into the lecture of the second Degree, where it still remains. "The pillar the right hand," says Calcott (Candid Disquisitons, page 66), "represented the pillar of the cloud, and that on the left the pillar of fire." If this symbolism be correct, the pillars of the porch, like those of the wilderness, would refer to the superintending and protecting power of Deity.